DishNetwork integrating popular SlingBox and SlingCatcher technology into new HD DVR boxes
By Leslie Poston
DishNetwork has won the hearts of television addicts everywhere with the unveiling of their new HD DVR 722 boxes. The new boxes offer a ton of new features, but by far my personal favorite is the SlingBox and SlingCatcher integration.
If you are as much of a television junkie as I am, you already know what SlingBox does (and you probably already use the technology). Basically, SlingBox is a way to stream your television anywhere you have access to the web. This means you can stream your favorite show to your work computer during your lunch break, or watch your shows at the local coffee shop if you want to – wherever you go, your shows are there.
Other features include use of Slingmedia’s video capture and upload technology Clip+Sling to go with the SlingBox and SlingCatcher features, a better browser, a better UHF remote that has a touch pad and a trigger for better television viewing and web surfing. The improved browser will be integrated with Yahoo, as will the Clip+Sling capability and other features.
With the addition of 22 new HD channels in recent weeks and the future launch of a new MPEG4 service to make East Coast satellite service installation and use easier, DishNetwork is well on its way to stealing more market share from rival DirectTV. I know that as a happy DishNetwork customer I will be an early adopter of the new Dish Network 722s High Definition DVR box, based on the adaptation of SlingBox, one of my favorite technologies, alone.
DishNetwork also acquired a portion of the 700mhz spectrum under parent company EchoStar. CEO Charlie Ergen has made it clear he plans to use the spectrum to make DishNetwork television available to subscribers anywhere they go. I can hardly wait for that to go live – it will only serve to solidify my addiction to the boob tube.
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on Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
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Stumble It!
May 25th, 2008
I have the 722 and love it. I just bought the sb solo and am trying to get this to work with a remote tv using the dish network rf remote. The solo have an infrared remote but is there anyway to get the rf to work. Am I missing something else with integration with the 722. Also the install for solo does not have the 722, so I installed the 622. Could this be why the rf remote is not working.
Thanks for any help!
December 24th, 2008
I find it interesting all the hype on the Sling technology supposedly incorporated into the 722 box. Here is a challenge – go to the Dish Network site and get me the link to the page that tells you about this feature. It doesn’t exist. The literature, even now (months after this marketing department hype) only says the Ethernet port is for future use. So, where’s the beef? Please somebody, show me where I am wrong on this. It looks like vaporware to me… – Phil
December 29th, 2008
@walker I don’t do DishNet tech support but I’m sure the company would be happy to help you if you contact them.
@phillip the main source of this now-old news story where I reported on planned features for the new DishNet boxes is linked at the bottom of the story in the words ‘boob tube’, but here it is for you again: http://www.multichannel.com/blog/350000435/post/940026694.html. I also based it on the marketing material received from DishNet. For what its worth anecdotally I was a DishNet customer with a 722 box until recently when I switched providers to lighten expenses. I bought the 722 based on the source news story and marketing materials from DishNet. I have a SlingBox and had my 722 on the ethernet. It saw Sling just fine without any mucking about on my part, whereas the older box never would see the SlingBox technology. I recommend contacting the folks behind SlingBox or DishNet to ask them to help you solve your technical support issue.
January 1st, 2009
Ms. Poston,
Thanks for the follow up. Last thing first – I don’t have any technical support issue.
Now, to the first thing – yes, your “…now-old news story where I reported on planned features…” did come up short. It was apparently a puff piece for DishNetwork. If you can show me the word “planned features” in your piece somewhere I can accept what you replied with and move on down the road. My problem is this – I do not see “planned features” anywhere in your piece at all. And even though it is an old piece, DishNetwork still has zero, nada, no piece of hardware with Sling technology built into it. You clearly stated the 722 hardware you looked at had this capability, so I actually would have felt better if your update had simply said “DishNetwork either lied to us or has suffered a hardware delay for some reason.” That I could have bought. Your piece being old rather underscores my point. Further, you could have called your original source for this PR release and asked them to get you an explanation for leaving you hanging out in the breeze like this.
You got hoodwinked and passed along their marketing bologna to us. If a box with this capability existed today I would buy it. Today is January 1, 2009, months after your piece. So, while thanking you for the follow up, rather than the defensive reply I got I would have appreciated a minor mea culpa and for you to point the finger at the party that mislead you and/or supply an update including an explanation for the delay.
Regards,
Phillip